Iran12 October, 20263 min read
Iran Accuses CENTCOM Chief Brad Cooper of Oil Smuggling in Strait of Hormuz
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Iran accuses CENTCOM chief of orchestrating oil-smuggling operations in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says Washington's seven-conditions reply for reopening Hormuz is insufficient.
Anadolu Ajansı was read line by line by the Watchdog: 0.0. See the score →
Rezaei accuses CENTCOM
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, accused the head of the US Central Command of orchestrating oil-smuggling operations in the Strait of Hormuz with the assistance of the United Arab Emirates military.
Rezaei said Adm. Brad Cooper was directing the operations using the UAE military, with five or six small boats transferring oil to large tankers, and he said Iranian forces had been striking five or six vessels involved in the operations each night over the past two or three months.
Rezaei rejected US President Donald Trump’s assertion that the Strait of Hormuz was open, insisting that Iran remained in control of the strategic waterway, and he said, "From now on, therefore, we will maintain control over the management of the Strait of Hormuz."
Rezaei warned that Iran could target US-linked technology infrastructure in the region worth more than $2 trillion if the United States attacks the country again, and he said, "many of these cables, data centers, artificial intelligence facilities and numerous other sites will be destroyed."
Seven conditions and hardening
Mohsen Rezaei told Iranian state media that Iran would keep control over the management of the Strait of Hormuz and considered Washington’s response to its seven conditions for reopening the waterway "insufficient." Rezaei said, "We presented seven conditions to the Americans and clearly stated that the Strait of Hormuz would not be opened to them," and he added that no negotiations would take place until those conditions were met. Rezaei said the US had accepted some of Iran’s conditions while others remained unclear, and he said Iran was "no longer in the process of responding to the Americans."
Rezaei also said the Gulf could not be secure without Iran's management of the Strait of Hormuz, describing control over the waterway as an "immense source of national wealth and a major national asset." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran could reopen the strategic waterway within seven days if Washington accepted a proposal conveyed through Qatari mediation, and he described a plan in which normal navigation would resume on the sixth day.
Safavi: intelligent management
Major General Safavi said Iran’s main strategy is the intelligent management of the Strait of Hormuz against the US' naval blockade, and he framed managing and restricting traffic as a strategic duty of the Armed Forces.
Safavi argued that Iran’s sovereignty and management over the region constitute "not merely a political claim, but an indisputable legal and geographical right," and he said the strait is a strategic bottleneck in the global energy network system.
Safavi said more than 20 percent of the world’s oil and energy flows continue to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and he rejected the idea that pipelines or alternative routes would reduce its importance.
Safavi distinguished between “closing the strait” and “managing the strait,” and he said, "our main strategy is the intelligent management of the Strait of Hormuz in facing the naval blockade."
Safavi said that this management aims to turn the narrow passage into a means of lifting maritime sanctions and achieving regional peace and security through the participation of regional countries, while the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28.